Harper's Ferry BrE AmE
a town in West Virginia, where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet, that was the place of many battles during the American Civil War. Just before the war, an ↑ abolitionist (=someone who wants to stop ↑ slavery ) called John Brown took control of the government weapons that were kept there and tried to get ↑ slave s to fight against their owners. He was caught and hanged for ↑ treason (=actions against your country) .